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The Lead with Jake Tapper
Hundreds Killed And 1,200+ Wounded As Israel Strikes Hezbollah; CNN Poll Of Polls: Harris At 50 Percent, Trump 47 Percent In National Average; Trump And GOP Allies Push To Change Nebraska Election Law; Investigation Aims To Get Clarity On Titan Crash. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired September 23, 2024 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:02]
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: What's so special about Pesto? Well, he's not even a year old and he's already much bigger than his parents. At three feet tall, he towers over them it. At 50 pounds, he already outweighs them.
And it's no wonder why, because he eats about 30 fish a day which is twice as many as the average adult penguin. He's certainly cute, and he will eventually shed those brown feathers and start to look more like mom and dad.
THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER starts right now.
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JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Quote: It's been raising -- raining bombs since 5:00 a.m."
THE LEAD starts right now.
That quote I just read you, part of a dramatic account from resident of Lebanon today as Israeli military pummels parts of that country. Hundreds are reportedly killed, including civilians. Thousands fleeing their homes as the Israel probably Defense Force says it is targeting Hezbollah rockets and drones.
Now, with the Middle East at a potential tipping point, the United States is sending even more us troops to the region. A former Israeli prime minister joins us live in moments.
Plus, brand new poll showing former President Donald Trump's strength in some of the most crucial states in the election. What we are learning from the numbers and the data and Trump's latest comments about whether he will agree to a second debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, a second debate right here on CNN.
And it is a tiny blue dot on the map with potentially giant consequences. I'm going to be joined live by the Republican congressman leading the charge to change Nebraska's election rules. Its move that could decide whether Trump or Harris, win the presidential election.
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TAPPER: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.
And we begin today with our world lead and the most extensive day of Israeli attacks on targets in Lebanon, not only since the war in Gaza began on October 7, last year, and Hezbollah began firing upon Israel. But it's the deadliest day of Israeli strikes against Lebanon since the war of 2006. Lebanese officials say at least 356 people have been killed and more than 1,000 injured by today's Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon.
Lebanon, like Hamas, does not thing wish between fighters and civilians in its casualty counsel, though, government of Lebanon does say that 24 children are among those killed today.
The Israeli say they are targeting the Iran-backed backed group Hezbollah which the U.S. and many Western nations designated a terrorist organization. Hezbollah is the same group that Israel flames for a missile barrage that killed a dozen school children in Israel in late July. And it is the same group that presumably Israel targeted last week when pagers and walkie-talkies across Lebanon exploded.
Those attacks sparked widespread grief and outrage in Lebanon because like Hamas and Gaza, Hezbollah embeds within Lebanese society and innocents were killed along with Hezbollah terrorists. Hezbollah which opposes the very existence of Israel has pledged to keep firing into northern Israel, until Israel ends its incursion into Gaza, increasing the possibility that Israel may commit its forces to a larger scale, two front war.
Now these Hezbollah attacks, including the more than 200 rockets fired today on Israel, have forced some 60,000 Israeli civilians to flee their homes in northern Israel.
Today, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that the Israelis are changing the balance of power on its northern front by dismantling thousands of rockets and missiles aimed at Israeli cities and citizens. More is likely coming. Israel's military is warning residents of villages and Lebanon's Bekaa Valley to evacuate immediately if they are, quote, inside o near houses where rockets and weapons are stored, unquote.
The Middle East crisis will certainly be one of the main issues President Biden will deal with during a speech tomorrow at the United Nations General Assembly.
We're going to begin our coverage today with CNN's Jeremy Diamond, who is covering this in northern Israel. He has new details about how all of this unfolded.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Israeli airstrikes battering southern and eastern Lebanon house.
It is the most intense Israeli bombardment of Lebanon since the 2006 war the deadliest. Hundreds were killed and many more injured as the Israeli military said it targeted Hezbollah weapons depots and rocket launchers. Meanwhile Israeli air defenses springing into action as Hezbollah fired more than 200 rockets and drones at Israel, targeting the city of Haifa and aiming further south than usual.
At least two rockets hitting the West Bank, more than 60 miles south of the Lebanese border and just east of Tel Aviv, as Israeli fighter jets carried out some 1,300 airstrikes today, the country's leaders say they are deliberately escalating, hoping to change the equation.
[16:05:00]
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): I promise to change the security balance, the balance of power in the war. This is exactly what we're doing. We're dismantling thousands of rockets and missiles aimed at Israeli cities and citizens.
DIAMOND: Lebanese officials say this is simply Israeli aggression.
ZIAD MAKARY, LEBANESE INFORMATION MINISTER (through translator): The continuing Israeli aggression on Lebanon is a war of extermination in every sense of the word on a destructive plan aimed at destroying Lebanese villages and towns and eliminating green areas.
DIAMOND: In Lebanon, Israel's new escalatory strategy is pushing thousands to flee their homes. The Israeli military sent mass text messages, including to some residents of the Lebanese capital and interrupted radio broadcasts, urging residents in southern and eastern Lebanon to evacuate.
In Lebanon's Bekaa Valley.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This warning is focused on the villagers in the Bekaa Valley.
DIAMOND: Residents were given just two hours notice before Israeli jets began hitting targets, including homes or the Israeli military says Hezbollah is storing rockets and weapons.
As smoke engulfs swaths of Lebanon, Many now fear this is just the beginning, as the prospect of all out war now looms larger than ever.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DIAMOND (on camera): And Jake, if you needed any more indication that this is a country on a war footing, tonight, the Israeli cabinet approving a, quote, special situation nationwide, giving itself the power to impose additional restrictions on civilian life.
Meanwhile, tonight here in Haifa, this city, the third largest in Israel, saw the first missiles since the beginning of this conflict, aimed squarely right here as Hezbollah shows that it is not only capable, but also willing to strike deeper into Israel than before -- Jake.
TAPPER: All right. Jeremy Diamond, thanks so much. Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett joins us now.
Thanks for joining us.
So Hezbollah has significantly more military capacity than Hamas does. Can the Israelis fight a two-front war, north against Hezbollah, and the west against Hamas, not to mention, of course, the incoming from the Houthis in the south and Iran and Iran-backed militias in the northeast -- does Israel had the capability to do this?
NAFTALI BENNETT, FORMER ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Yes.
TAPPER: OK. Today's Israeli strikes in Lebanon have Iran, which backs both Hamas and Hezbollah warning of dangerous consequences. What about that warning? How concerned is the Israeli government, the Israeli military about the facts that Iran might get more involved. They obviously have fired on Israel directly in the last few months, not to mention, of course, using their proxies.
BENNETT: We can defeat our enemies even when they fight us combined. What you're seeing right now is after such a long time of us containing and containing hits from all of our fronts, we've been hit just over the past 11 months, Hezbollah totally unprovoked, 8,000 rockets into Israel, killing dozens of Israelis, including killing 12 young children playing soccer. They got no warning. They got no text messages like we do, like we give the Lebanese.
And enough is enough. We're fighting back. It's time for Israel to hit back. It's time for us to destroy Hezbollah, this horrible, savage terror organization that by the way killed over 240 Americans and we're doing the job to defeat them and we're going to follow through on this.
TAPPER: You're referring to the attack on the U.S. marines barrack in Beirut in the 1980s.
Do you think the flare of the Israeli/Hezbollah conflict is smothering any efforts to negotiate an end to the Gaza war and a return of the Israeli and American, and other hostages being held by Hamas?
BENNETT: Well, the contrary. I think it increases the pressure on our enemies, on Yahya Sinwar, to reach an agreement.
TAPPER: What about the fact that there are civilian casualties here? I mean, obviously Hezbollah is a terrorist group, and obviously they embed within Lebanese society. But you -- the Israelis are killing civilians. They are killing innocent civilians in these strikes.
BENNETT: The vast majority that we're killing are terrorists.
And I want to say this -- I want to talk to the Lebanese people, especially in southern Lebanon. It's time for you to stand up against Hezbollah. It's time for you to topple them.
[16:10:00]
It's time for you to tell them you will no longer run this country. You will no longer wreak havoc on all of us.
This is your opportunity because for way too many years, I remember when I was a young soldier, I was fighting Hezbollah. When I was a company commander, I was fighting Hezbollah. In the second Lebanon war, I was fighting Hezbollah.
We have no territorial claim in Lebanon. We've not been in Lebanon for 24 years. So this is a totally one-sided, unprovoked attack of Hezbollah on Israel. There's one way to do away with all of this, it's to defeat Hezbollah or for Hezbollah to laying down its arms because if it doesn't do that, it's going to destroy Lebanon, much like Hamas destroyed Gaza.
Look at what's going on in Gaza, that's going to happen in Lebanon if you don't topple Hezbollah.
TAPPER: How concerned are you about Israel becoming even more ostracized from the community of nations with these attacks which you acknowledged, innocent people are being killed in the Lebanese government said 24 children or children were killed today?
BENNETT: Jake, I want to tell you something. You know, what Hezbollah is doing, there are Lebanese who willfully rent out a room in their house for a rocket launcher. So you've got a living room, a kitchen and a rocket launcher room. And they are paid a monthly salary to maintain the rocket and to actually shoot the rocket when Hezbollah tells them to do it.
Now, if you place a rocket next year, children's room, you're responsible for anything that happens to them. Not Israel, where those rockets are targeting us. What would you do?
Obviously, we're going after those rockets and rocket launchers, anyone who hosts a rocket launcher in his house is responsible for any consequences including the danger to his own family.
TAPPER: Last week, I spoke with some hostage families, Israeli Americans who accuse Prime Minister Netanyahu of putting his political survival ahead of their needs and the needs to get their loved ones home.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JONATHAN DEKEL-CHEN, FATHER OF HOSTAGE SAGUI DEKEL-CHEN: I think all Israelis are done listening to Prime Minister Netanyahu, because clearly, there's a gap between what he says in terms of his commitment to getting the hostages home and his actions.
RONEN NEUTRA, FATHER OF HOSTAGE OMER NEUTRA: We all feel that it's all political. We all feel that this war is dragging and it has to stop.
(END VIDEO CLIP) TAPPER: That was Jonathan Dekel-Chen, father of Sagui, and Ronen Neutra, a father of Omer, both of whom are thought to still be alive in Gaza right now, kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 of last year.
What's your reaction, sir?
BENNETT: We must bring our boys and girls home. They were kidnapped from their beds on Sabbath morning. They didn't deserve any of this, and we have to bring them home.
Right now, Sinwar is not yet coming to the table. I think -- yes, the war in the south has been dragged on way too slowly, way too long, very low intensity. I think that we should hit hard and do stuff faster down there, and I think that would bring Yahya Sinwar to the table and when we can, we need to reach the right deal in order to bring them home.
TAPPER: Do you think Netanyahu is dragging this war and refusing to come up with settlements with Hamas so that he can stay in political power/
BENNETT: You know, I don't know. And I don't try to guess anyone's motives. I look at the people's actions.
I think the war in the south has taken away way too long. This has never been Israel's method of war. We've always had short and very effective and targeted wars at the Six-Day War, 1956 war was just a few days. Yom Kippur was three weeks, a little bit less than that.
And suddenly, we've got this very, very slow low-intensity war. And I think that's a mistake.
TAPPER: Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, thank you so much for your time today, sir.
BENNETT: Thank you, Jake.
Today, we're getting a brand-new look at the presidential race in the United States and a handful of states that could decide the winner. We're going to break down all those numbers next.
Plus, the new details we learned today about the Titan sub that in imploded in the ocean, killing everyone on board as they tried to explore the wreckage of the Titanic.
Stay with us.
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TAPPER: In our 2024 lead, while some national polls show support for Vice President Harris ticking up following her debate with former President Trump, a new CNN poll of polls finds the race is still essentially locked in a tie, with no clear leader. And much more importantly, in the critical battleground states that will decide who actually wins control of the White House, new polls in those swing states show Donald Trump with a slight advantage in the Sun Belt.
CNN's Harry Enten is live at the magic wall for us in New York.
Harry, walk -- walk us through the numbers.
HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Yeah, I care a lot more about these Sun Belt battle how ground states than I do that national polling leader, because the fact is it's the Electoral College.
So let's take a look at where we are in the Sun Belt battleground states. And you can see a lot more red on your screen there. In fact, there is no blue on your screen. Arizona, Donald Trump up by five points, Georgia we're characterizing as no clear leader, but he's got four points ahead of Kamala Harris, and in the great state of North Carolina, it's Donald Trump by three points. Again, no clear leader.
I should note that these results are a little bit more Republican leaning than the averages are in these states. But even in the averages, they all showed Donald Trump slightly ahead in these three pivotal battleground states, two of which Joe Biden carried last time around, Arizona and Georgia.
TAPPER: So when you drill down into the data, what are some of the factors that explain why these numbers are friendly to Donald Trump?
ENTEN: Yeah. Why are they? Let's dig deep down into those cross tabs, all right?
[16:20:01]
I think this will give you an indication why.
All right, what's the most important issue for determining your November vote? And this is Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, on average. Look, what's number one, the economy slash inflation, 31 percent. That's a great issue for Donald Trump. He's always lead on the economy and inflation.
How about immigration issue, number two? Sixteen percent. Another great issue for Donald Trump.
Only when we get down here to abortion at 16 percent is where Kamala Harris does particularly well. So two of the three top issues are issues on which Donald Trump does better than Kamala Harris. So not much of a surprise that he's leading the poll.
How about this? I think this is really interesting, right? Choice for president, Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina.
All right, Hispanic voters four years ago, Joe Biden won that vote 66 percent in the Sun Belt. Look at where we are now, Kamala Harris at just 52 percent. So Kamala Harris struggling among Hispanic voters, Donald Trump doing considerably better than he did four years ago.
How about Black voters? Kamala Harris, again, leading here by a significant margin, right? She's getting 83 percent of that vote, but that is significantly short of Joe Biden's 92 percent. So the bottom line is in the Sun Belt, which is much more diverse than the northern battleground states up in the Great Lakes, Kamala Harris is struggling among voters of color, Jake.
TAPPER: And, Harry, as you know, and obviously, it all comes down to the Electoral College. That magic number is 270. If Harris is able to hold onto those blue wall states, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Trump, continues to maintain his advantage in the Sun Belt. What do we get?
ENTEN: Oh, my goodness, look, how close this race is, 276 electoral votes to Donald Trump's 262 because she carries these Great Lake battleground states, even if she loses a North Carolina, Georgia, and Arizona. But the bottom line is this, Mr. Tapper, this race is way too close to call based upon the polling that I currently say.
TAPPER: Wait, Harry, why do you have Nevada blue?
ENTEN: Why? Because that is the polling average is Nevada is blue. And by get this, by a single percentage point, its the oneself, but Sun Belt state in which Kamala Harris currently holds any sort of advantage. But even there its way too close to call as our dear friend Jon Ralston, would like to say.
TAPPER: Yeah, I -- I don't know that I buy that.
Harry Enten --
ENTEN: You don't buy it, you don't buy it -- then were going to have to come back on and we'll talk about it a little bit more.
TAPPER: You're all -- you have an open invitation. What happens if you turn to Nevada red? Can you do that?
ENTEN: I can turn Nevada red and guess what happens if we turn Nevada red? Kamala Harris gets exactly 270 electoral votes. So she would still win in this scenario. If you turn Nevada red because she wins, of course, in Nebraska's second congressional district, which at this point looks like its going to maintain its blueness because the statewide law is going to maintain that it gives him electoral vote to the winner of each those congressional districts.
TAPPER: We will. We'll talk more about that in a little bit with the guy trying to change the law in Nebraska.
Harry Enten at the magic wall, thanks so much.
Let's bring in our panel of political experts.
Sorry, I went a little long there, but you know, again around a map when I go crazy.
Paul, I have to say do you disagree with the idea that Kamala Harris is running as if she's five points up. She's running a cautious race?
PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No. TAPPER: She's not doing big interviews. She's not -- she has yet to do a press conference.
BEGALA: No.
TAPPER: You disagree?
BEGALA: I really do. She says, I'm the underdog because she is I think she's running honestly, flawless camping.
Should she do more interviews? Well, yeah. But our colleague Brian Stelter actually reported this out. She's not doing a ton, but their local interviews.
She's -- I wish she would come Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER. I do. Okay. I'm biased because I work here, but also, I think it would be good for her.
But she's doing local interview -- after the debate in Philly. You know, she didn't do you. I wish she had.
TAPPER: In Channel Six.
BEGALA: Channel Six, Action News, WPVI, the dominant station, and the dominance and the most important state. She did Chiquibaby who has huge Spanish-language radio show. She did, as Trump did, the National Association of Black Journalists.
TAPPER: Yeah.
BEGALA: Of course, she should do a lot of interviews. It is frankly more important because the Electoral College to do this regional, local press than it is to do national press.
TAPPER: Kristin, what are you thinking?
KRISTIN DAVISON, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, I think she's smart and that she doesn't do a whole lot of interviews because she doesn't have to answer the hard questions. And so we saw Joe Biden did the same type of strategy back in 2020, wasn't really out there, kind of a basement campaign.
Harris is doing the same thing. She's not doing big interviews because she doesn't want to answer why she's flip-flopped on fracking. Today, there was an article saying that she's very being very vague about her position on immigration now.
So it is very smart because she doesn't have to if -- she can hold run the clock out, you know, we're starting voting in some of these states in Pennsylvania and Virginia. And if she doesn't have to answer these questions, it's probably better off for her. I don't really know how far vibes will get her. She's going to have to put some meat on the bones here.
TAPPER: Yeah. DAVISON: One of the things we saw in "The New York Times" polls, that an every single state, Arizona, North Carolina, and Georgia, more people say that Trumps policies helped them and hurt them. More people said that Harris' policies hurt them, than help them.
TAPPER: Ayesha, I want to read some analysis by our friend, CNN's Stephen Collinson, who writes, quote, wild weeks of outlandish rhetoric, rhetoric by Donald Trump have revived memories of the cacophony of his four White House years, and shattered perceptions that he's running a more discipline campaign than in 2020 or 2016.
But the nature of the race, a toss-up contest in swing states has not budged.
[16:25:02]
Does that surprise you?
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST, NPR'S WEEKEND EDITION SUNDAY: It doesn't surprise me because the country is so divided and, I -- you know, I was out of North Carolina recently. I know well talk about them later.
But you know, what you really get when you talk to voters is you -- there is a lot of, there are black voters who have a lot of distaste for Donald. But there is a concern about inflation. There's a concern about the cost of living, and then they come back to, we don't know as much about Harris, right?
And so I think that Harris does need to close -- need to close the deal, but guess who also needs to close the deal? Donald Trump.
TAPPER: Right.
RASCOE: He has not closed the deal.
TAPPER: And if you look at the CNN poll of polls, Trump is still struggling to get a majority of Americans to support him. So, that's an average of the leading polls. Fifth -- Harris at 50 percent, Trump at 47 percent. Again, what is more important is the battleground states, not the national polls, but still, he's still struggling to get 50 percent.
DAVISON: He is, but he doesn't, he doesn't have to nationally, right? It's going to come down to 50,000 voters outside of Philadelphia, outside of Atlanta, outside of Phoenix, outside of Las Vegas. And so, those national polls, I know we like to talk about them, but they really aren't indicative of what's going on, on the ground.
When you go into these battleground states and see the fact that -- for where there favorability is right now, Trump is outperforming his base to where Harris is. He -- and where he's -- you know, where she's winning with women and white college educated voters. His favorability is higher and so he has a higher ceiling to convert than she does with men and with white non-college.
RASCOE: But Trump has not closed. Like in a -- in a state like North Carolina, Trump should be further ahead really.
TAPPER: Right.
RASCOE: I mean, I mean, yes. Like there are a lot of --
DAVISON: You can say the same about Harris in Arizona.
RASCOE: There are a lot of college educated voters in -- you know, and it is turning more blue, but in a state like North Carolina, Trump should be further ahead, even in Georgia.
I mean, I think that there I think the fact that is that this race is closer when you think about inflation, cost of living, all this stuff, I think Trump does drag his own self down.
BEGALA: Donald Trump has been presidential candidate or president for nine years, three months, and eight days. During that time, he has never once had a day where he commanded 50 percent support.
Kamala Harris been a presidential candidate 57 days. She's hit 50 in some of these national polls. Now, I agree national polls don't matter, just like national interviews don't matter.
But Trump trades at such a narrow range and he'll never fall. He'll never -- I don't want to depress you, but I went through where he was -- he was found responsible for sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll. He gained 0.9 percent. He gained a point, he gained a point.
No, he didn't lose a point when he's convicted of 34 felonies. I mean, nothing moves this guy down but not a lot moves him up. The entire time, Kamala has been running against him. He has moved 1.5 percent.
TAPPER: I would argue that national interviews are bigger audience, bigger exposure.
But everyone stick around. We've got a lot more to talk about.
Republicans in a major roadblock today as they tried to change the rules in one crucial area ahead of the presidential election. Our Harry Enten and just mentioned it. It's Omaha, Nebraska. How all of this could impact the race? That's next
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): The entire federal delegation of Nebraska, House members and two senators want this change. To my friends in Nebraska, that one electoral vote could be the difference between Harris being president or not, and she's a disaster for Nebraska and the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP) TAPPER: The outcome of the presidential election could all come down to one single electoral vote in Nebraska's second congressional district, which includes Omaha, the state's most populous city, could be the one to tip the scale, which is why former President Donald Trump and his allies such as South Carolina Lindsey Graham, as you just heard, are pushing for Nebraska state legislature to overturn a 30-year election law and move to a winner-take-all electoral college approach -- a move that would likely benefit Trump.
Nebraska's own CNN's Jeff Zeleny joins us now, my favorite cornhusker.
Jeff, does Nebraska state legislature have the votes to make this change with just a few weeks before early voting begins in Nebraska?
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Jake, increasingly, it looks like they do not have the votes and this really has been a perennial issue. This isn't anything new. They knew that the race was going to be tight, but the legislature has failed to mount enough support to change the law.
While a last ditch effort last week with Lindsey Graham going to Lincoln, as you said, sitting with a Republican state senators, the governor convened a meeting. The former president called in to have a conversation with a couple of state senators, we are told, all of that is not going to be enough.
And Omaha state senator by the name of Mike McDonald has just said just a short time ago this afternoon that he is not going to be the deciding vote to change the law. The governor was prepared to have a special session of the legislature before the November election to change the law for this election. But this senator who has ambitions of his own, he would like to run for mayor of Omaha at some time, perhaps he is not going to change his support for this bill. He said it should be up to the people of Nebraska, so he will put a constitutional amendment up next year to have a vote of this.
But, Jake, the reason this matters, Omaha, they call it the blue dot -- the Harris campaign cannot win 270 -- you see those blue dots that are popping up in front lawns across Omaha. The blue wall plus the blue dot of Omaha that reaches 270 if she does not win any other states across the Sun Belt.
So that's why it matters. But at this point, it looks like the law will not change this year, Jake.
TAPPER: Jeff Zeleny, Nebraska's own. Thank you so much.
[16:35:01]
ZELENY: You bet.
TAPPER: Let's bring in another Nebraskan. He's one of the Republicans pushing for this change to Nebraska's election law, Congressman Mike Flood of Nebraska.
Thanks so much for being here, sir. We appreciate it. So one of the holdouts as Jeff just noted, State Senator Mike McDonald
of Omaha, he wrote this statement today that included in part, quote: After deep consideration, it is clear to me that right now, 43 days from election day is not the moment to make this change.
He goes on to say, Nebraska voters, not politicians of either party should have the final say on how we pick a president.
Does that mean the efforts over?
SEN. MIKE FLOOD (R-NE): Well, it's certainly disappointing that it would be a pretty large setback. Last week, I was in the governor's mansion when we had that meeting with Lindsey Graham and Governor Pillen, and the state senators. And Mike McDonald told the Republicans he was trying to get to yes.
And so there was hope that he would get there. Obviously, a setback, three votes short is really where we are. I felt that if McDonald had said yes, the other two would have come along, but that just developed today. It is where -- that's where we are. So we'll see where we go next.
TAPPER: So let me ask you a devils advocate question, okay?
So since 2020, when so many states, Democratic states and Republican states changed election laws to make it easier to vote during the pandemic. I have been hearing Republicans saying how unfair it was to change the rules in the middle of the game for - since that happened until today, is this not changing the rules in the middle of the game and not for a public health crisis, but for political reasons?
FLOOD: Let's talk about it. So, for 125 years, Nebraska was a winner- take-all state. A Democratic effort led in 1992 with a Democratic governor, changed it to this apportioned plan. And the idea was in 1992, that states like California would start sharing some of their red electoral votes with the Electoral College and states like New York would do that. But the experiment failed.
So, for 20 years. We have been working to put it back to winner-take- all. This seem to present one of the best opportunities to do it because it is what a majority of Nebraskans want. And if this system is so fair in Nebraska, why does it California do it? What does it New York do it?
The reality is they're partisan. They would never change to something like this. And the majority of Nebraskans want to see Donald Trump elected. He's going to win by 20 points.
Is it too much to ask to be like every other states besides Maine? I mean, you can tie this to anything you want back in 2020, the reality is for 20 years and I was the speaker of the Nebraska legislature for six. This has been a priority if this helps us get it done. So it'd be it.
TAPPER: So what people may or may not know out there is it Maine followed your lead? FLOOD: Sure.
TAPPER: And Maine's second congressional district also does it, except it's a reverse approach where Maine tends to go Democratic, but Maine second congressional district goes Republican sometimes just like Omaha, Nebraska is because congressional districts sometimes goes Democrat.
And what it does a devil, you know, somebody who opposes you on this might say, is it brings more attention to your state. You have people coming into your state that normally wouldn't come in. Trump to Maine, Harris to Omaha. And why isn't that a good thing?
FLOOD: Well, if California does it, I will relinquish any interest I have in changing the law. If California wants to start sharing, red votes --
TAPPER: But what about Maine? Is that good enough?
FLOOD: I'll take Maine. I mean, at the end of the day, Maine could decide what it wants to do one way or the other. But when 48 states do it one way and we do it this way and for me, and I know a lot of people may disagree especially on this network you would say, hey, Kamala Harris is fine.
I see a big choice between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, and I'm on the Donald Trump side of the equation and I think for the next four years, we're going to decide where America goes and our strength to the world depends on this.
TAPPER: So just what about the changing the rules in the middle of the game thing because I understand you've been trying to do this for years, but right now, were what is it? Forty-seven days until the election. I mean, it's really, really crunch time.
FLOOD: We are a sovereign state. What is wrong about calling a special session introducing bills, having a hearing on each bill, going through three rounds of debate in our states, unicameral legislature, and having a governor signed a bill? that is the way we express ourselves democratically and politically in Nebraska, the majority of Nebraskans need to be able to say this is the way we want.
If that's the way we want it and were a sovereign state and we follow the rules and we have public hearings and it's open to the public, what's so wrong about that? That's our democratic system at work. Forty-seven days, 180 days, two years before the election, if Nebraskans want to do it some way that that is our, that is our remedy.
TAPPER: So Donald Trump won Nebraska's second congressional district in 2016.
FLOOD: Sure.
TAPPER: He just didn't win it in 2020. If the election were held today, are you worried he would lose it? FLOOD: I certainly don't think he's leading right now. I don't have any polling right in front of me, but I would say that this is a pretty safe seat for Kamala Harris right today. We'd love to see Donald Trump in Omaha. I'd love to see all of our growths go to one candidate.
But as you see from the reporting right now, we don't have 33 votes. It takes 33 votes at a 49 to two overcome a filibuster and to enact the emergency clause.
[16:40:00]
What I would say is don't give up on us. We're still working on it, but certainly a big hurdle today.
TAPPER: We really appreciate your coming and answering our questions, and I would like to say at some point, a statue of Jeff Zeleny at statuary hall from Nebraska, I think would be appropriate.
FLOOD: And we'd have to -- we'd have to kick out somebody. We just put two new ones in there.
TAPPER: Is that right?
FLOOD: I could probably guess something for him in the state capitol.
TAPPER: State capitol.
FLOOD: Maybe the Exeter town square.
TAPPER: I'll sculpt -- I'll sculpt it at myself.
Congressman Mike Flood of Nebraska, really appreciate your being here today.
Another group that is going to be critical in the upcoming election is the youth vote. CNN's Danny Freeman visited a key battleground for a closer look at how both campaigns are trying to win over these key young voters.
Stay with us.
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[16:45:00]
TAPPER: In our 2024 lead today, both Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are vying for support from young voters and Trump is doing surprisingly well among young men.
CNN's Danny Freeman went to battleground, Pennsylvania, where young Republican and Democratic voters are weighing how to keep their peers energized in this years' presidential election.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ELIAN ANDERSON, UPJ DEMOCRATS PRESIDENT: I was thinking how could I convince some 18-year-old fresh at a high school? Hey, I spent a whole today talking to people you don't know over the phone for Joe Biden? Hard sell.
DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The head of the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown's College Democrats got new life once President Joe Biden dropped out and vice president Kamala Harris became the nominee.
ANDERSON: There wasn't a lot of passion going around.
FREEMAN: And you feel that's changed.
ANDERSON: It's definitely.
FREEMAN: How are you feeling today?
MARIAM BANGURAH, UPJ DEMOCRATS SECRETARY: I'm feeling a lot more comfortable.
FREEMAN: UPJ senior, Mariam Bangurah, says Harris's background in particular has energized younger voters.
BANGURAH: I'm 22-years-old, and I've lived my entire life not seeing many people who look like me or have a similar background as me who have done the job that I want to do. We are like doing well, but like we really need to like keep that energy and that's what I'm worried about.
FREEMAN: In 2020, younger voters overwhelmingly supported Biden over former President Donald Trump. But before Biden dropped out, some polls showed Trump making gains with this key demographic.
Now, with Harris at the top of the Democratic ticket, there are signs younger voters are swinging back in her direction.
ELECTRA JANIS, WASHINGTON CO. BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS VICE CHAIR: I think she is helping young voters get out and for that, I'm grateful regardless of who you are voting for.
FREEMAN: Electra Janis is the vice chair of the Washington County board of commissioners, a 28-year-old Republican voting for Trump. She thinks that Trump can keep the gains he made with younger voters when Biden was still in the race.
JANIS: I will say when I'm voting for President Trump, I'm not voting for a person. I'm voting for his policies.
The volunteer base has grown in Pennsylvania significantly. And I think what they need to do is get the young passionate, motivated individuals out there seeking other young individuals to do the same.
FREEMAN: For that, the Trump campaign is turning to people like Steven Kail.
Did you ever expect to be working on a political campaign?
STEVEN KAIL, TRUMP CAMAPIGN VOLUNTEER: I did not, no.
FREEMAN: The thirty-three-year-old service technician from outside Pittsburgh was motivated to knock doors after he witnessed the former president gets shot at his Butler rally in July.
KAIL: When I saw that they wanted to help out.
FREEMAN: For Kail, that means outworking Harris volunteers and staying on message with younger voters as much as possible.
KAIL: I start off by talking about the economy, their cost of living, especially if they're in college, paying higher prices for gas, utilities.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you want a Kamala Harris sticker?
FREEMAN: But on the University of Pittsburgh's main campus, young supporters of both candidates are now readying closing arguments to their peers.
JOSH MINSKY, UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH COLLEGE REPUBLICANS PRESIDENT: I don't know if that's necessarily doable to get people extremely excited about Trump for my age, but I do think it's possible to get people to understand that you don't have to like someone to vote for them.
SAM PODNAR, UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH COLLEGE DEMOCRATS CO-PRESIDENT: So, we are out basically doing things every single day. We're just working on building power and on transforming a lot of enthusiasm into actual actionable ways.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FREEMAN (on camera): Jake, perhaps one of the signs that the Trump campaign is trying to reignite enthusiasm among younger voters is tonight this rally is only the second rally, but the Trump campaign has helped at a college campus in Pennsylvania over the past several months. The first one I'll note was just a few days before that crucial debate against President Biden -- Jake.
TAPPER: All right. Danny Freeman in Indiana, Pennsylvania. Thanks so much.
New details revealed today by the cofounder of OceanGate, the company behind that Titan sub that imploded during a dive last year, as investigators search for answers as to what could have gone so terribly wrong.
Stay with us.
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[16:53:15] TAPPER: In our national lead, the haunting legacy of the Titanic is playing out in a riveting hearing by the U.S. Coast Guard. And what exactly went wrong when that Titan submersible imploded near the ocean floor, trying to get up close to the most famous wreckage in the sea. There was a key witness today.
And Jason Carroll is here with the latest.
Jason, what did we learn today?
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, another week of testimony and more allegations that safety's concerns were ignored or disregarded by OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush. This time, the Coast Guard heard from OceanGate's former director of engineering, a man by the name of Phil Brooks.
Brooks said that Russia was against first having audio alarms aboard the titan. He said that following a dive in 2022, there was a loud bang that was heard on the sub once it had resurfaced. According to testimony, it was thought at the time that perhaps it was the subs frame that was readjusting itself somehow. But Brooks was one of those people who wanted to immediately examine it further. And he says that it was rush who ultimately have the final say on that.
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PHIL BROOKS, FORMER OCEANGATE ENGINEERING DIRECTOR: It was -- it was very frustrating because it was left in St. Johns and left on the dock. And we had no way to work on it, no aid to look at it. And we were told it was a cost issue, you know, that the cost of shipping it back was prohibitive. They were low on money.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: There has been much that has been said about what the hull was made up on the Titan. It was made of a carbon fiber composition. It was not classed by his safety organization. We've learned that during the hearing, Stockton Rush was against getting it class because it would take too long on that. It was too expensive than it stifled innovation in his words.
[16:55:06]
Today, a representative, Jake, from the American Bureau of Shipping, which does class subs testified that that organization would not have given Titan a safety classification because when it comes to carbon fiber hulls, the composite can fail catastrophically, according to this testimony, without much warning.
OceanGate's former CEO, co-founder, also testified that Rush was not someone driven by tourism. He said that it was not the original plan for OceanGate even to build a sub, that they were going to take subs from other organizations and repurpose them -- Jake.
TAPPER: Jason Carroll, thanks so much. Appreciate it. The man accused of trying to assassinate done a prompt earlier this
month appeared in court today just as investigators begin to reveal new details about how the suspect allegedly prepared for his thankfully, foiled attack.
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